It was exactly seven o'clock
when I pulled into the high school parking lot. I parked my car and then headed
over to the aquatic center where the swim meet was underway. Once inside, I
found Jake and Ashley sitting in the stands.

"Dude, just in time," said
Jake as he moved over a bit to make space for me.

"Uh, yeah, I got held up," I
said as I sat down. "So where is Zac?" I added
quickly.

"Lane 6. What do you mean you
got held up?"

"Oh, I see him," I said
recognizing Zac's short bleached hair.

I was saved from further
interrogation as the announcer started to call out the names of the swimmers.
We gave a little cheer when they announced Zac's
name. As I watched Zac adjust his goggles and step up
onto the starting block, thoughts about the day raced through my mind. Many
things had happened in the past couple of hours. I had asked out Rachel Fisher
who was the one of the hottest girls in school. I had also met Colin Stone who
intrigued me in some unknown way. There was something about him. I watched the
swimmers getting into position as I tried to think. There was something about
him. Then just as the starting whistle went off, the answer hit me.

"Fuck!" I said aloud as the
realization dawned.

"Yeah, look at him go! He is
so awesome!" yelled Ashley.

Ashley's exclamation broke me
from my thoughts and I turned my attention to the race. Zac
had gained the lead and had left the competition behind. He zoomed through the
water towards the end. Cheers and applause broke out as Zac
reached the finish. We jumped up and cheered along with everyone else but maybe
a bit louder. Zac pushed up his goggles and after
seeing his time, he pumped his fist in victory.

"Yay! Let's go
down and congratulate him," said Ashley excitedly as the cheers and applause
slowed down.

I followed Ashley and Jake
down to the pool area where the swimmers and fans were milling around. Zac was talking excitedly to his parents. When he saw us,
he left them and walked over to us.

"Hey guys! Thanks for making
it out here!" said Zac.

"That was awesome, Zac!" exclaimed Ashley as she hugged Zac.

"Yeah, dude, great job," said
Jake, patting Zac on the back.

"No surprise, right?" I said
smiling. "You are amazing."

Zac looked at me and smiled even more.

"Thanks, guys," said Zac still smiling. "It means a lot."

"That's what we are here
for," said Jake laughing.

"Yeah, we are really proud of
you," I added.

"Thanks," said Zac looking back at me and smiling. "Well I expect my
parents are waiting for me, so I guess I will see you guys later."

We said goodbye and then
walked out to the parking lot talking excitedly about Zac's
performance. As I remembered Zac smiling at me, I
remembered the realization from before, the smile from my face disappeared, and
I grew quiet. Jake and Ashley soon noticed that I wasn't
talking or smiling which was always a clear sign that something was wrong with
me. As we reached my car, they both cornered me.

"Okay, something is up.
Spill!" said Ashley.

I looked at both of them as
they both waited for me to speak. They wanted answers but I wasn't
sure if I wanted to tell them.

"Do you guys want to get
dinner?" I asked trying to stall.

"Sure, but you have to tell
us what's wrong," said Jake.

I let out a sigh.

"Okay, get in," I said
unlocking my car.

I knew I was not going to be
able to get away without telling them. I had never been able to hide anything
from them and therefore, they basically knew
everything about me. I would just have to tell them and hear what they thought.
Usually they were able to help me out if I had a problem but this time, it was
a bit more complicated...

We soon reached the local
pizza parlor. This place had been our favorite hangout since Jake and I had
found this place in the eighth grade. This place had come to hold many memories
of great times spent together. This time, we had come here on a more serious
note than we usually did. We had come to discuss my dilemma. The little dilemma
I had created for myself.

"We'll have a large pepperoni
pizza and three cokes," Jake told the waitress
who came by to get our order after we sat down in our favorite booth.

"Okay, it will probably
be fifteen minutes," said the waitress before
walking away.

After she left, Jake and
Ashley turned towards me expectantly. I nervously tapped the table with my
finger.

"Okay, I think I have
something to tell you guys," I started.

I looked at Jake and Ashley
who just looked at me and nodded.

"So as you probably have
already heard, I asked Rachel out to dinner and a movie after school and she
said yes.

"Yeah, congrats," said
Jake happily.

"Well, I hope this will
calm her down," said Ashley. "She has been kind of hung up on you for
the past few weeks."

"More like months,"
said Jake laughing. "So what's the problem?"

I looked at him. He was
looking at me intently. I took a breath and continued.

"Well, I kind of met
this guy when I was dropping off my sister at her friend's house... and... and... I think I kind of like him."

There was silence. I looked
at Jake and Ashley. Jake opened his mouth to say something but then closed it.

"What do you mean you
like him?" asked Ashley. "You can't be serious."

"I think I am serious. I
just saw him and I couldn't help it. There is just
something about him."

"Dude, what about
Rachel?" Jake asked.

"Well, I like her too but
I don't feel anything special towards her like I felt when I saw this guy. It's
kind of hard to explain."

"So you think you really
like this guy?" asked Jake.

"I think so. He just
seems so interesting. Of course, I have no idea if he feels the same way but I only
met him today. I think I have to get to know him better first."

"So are you going to
still go out with her?" asked Jake.

"I don't think so. It
wouldn't be right."

"Dude, she is not going
to be happy with that."

"Well, it's better to
stop now than later."

"True, but she will still
be really upset. She was so excited that you finally asked her out. She must
have spent two hours talking to Ashley about how you asked her out and about your
date on Friday," said Jake laughing.

I laughed too and turned to
look at Ashley who wasn't laughing and had troubled
look on her face.

"But Kyle, you can't do
this," Ashley said.

"Why can't he? He likes
a guy and he is going to try his luck," said Jake smiling. "I don't
even see why he was so troubled by it either."

I however knew what Ashley
was talking about and it was what had been troubling me and causing the whole
dilemma.